Persona: Heroes of West Minora
by The Impostor
Summary: The town of West Minora Illinois seems to be an uninteresting and dull place, and for the most part that's true. That is, until a group of college students discover the metaverse, and seek to use it to become heroes... Whatever that means. They'll face challenges like none other and fight what they might call evil, but does that make them truly good? (SYOC)
1. Origins

**A/N: After nearly two years, I'm finally back! I'm unlikely to return to most of my older stories, but instead, I'm ready to flex my writing muscles once more. To kick things off, lets return to one of my favorite things to write: The SYOC. This is of course one for Persona 5, and I'm taking applications effective immediately. This first chapter is just to kick things off.**

* * *

"It seems your fate is an odd one. Not one of grind, or even one of sorrow, rather one of danger, and with many adventures on the way. Well, then, how might it end? That's for you to see. Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dreams and reality, mind and matter."

Tobias was jolted by the strange man sitting before him, bald, with a comically large nose. He was short, but had a commanding presence. For whatever reason, Tobias knew to respect him. He seemed powerful, but not exactly evil. Whatever. He'd hear him out.

"I am a guide, here to inform you of your contract, though I find it odd that you're coming to it so late." My name is Igor.

"I am another aid on your path to this heroic fate." Chimed another voice, this one higher pitched and feminine sounding. Its owner stepped out of the shadows, and revealed herself. She was a tall woman with long red hair, and wore a maroon cardigan with black pants and pointed black shoes. She seemed much less intimidating than Igor, she even seemed to be on equal footing with Tobias himself. Though Tobias still couldn't quite process why. "My name is Abigail. I can answer further questions you may have about the velvet room."

"The Velvet... Room?" Tobias wondered aloud, realizing at that point that he had no clear idea of where he was or why he was there. He brushed his long brown bangs to the side, and took a bit more of a look around.

The room resembled an office. It held a desk with chairs along both sides, with Igor seated on the opposite side from Tobias, and a smaller desk off to one side, which Tobias concluded must have belonged to Abigail. The room was shaped like an octagon, with something placed on each side of the room. There were several book shelves, all of which contained books that shifted positions and arranged themselves, seemingly at random. Other objects included what appeared to be a small 3D printer, a normal printer, a copy machine, and a scanner. Tobias thought it best not to ask why any of those were there.

"If anything, I think it would be fruitful to introduce you to the nature of your fate. You may be weak now, but soon, you must become strong, else you may not last long." Continued Igor. "Abigail will show you the ropes."

"Yes sir." Said Abigail, as she took Tobias by the hand, and opened what appeared to be a portal of some kind in the space immediately in front of them. and pulled Tobias through.

* * *

"This is the Metaverse." Explained Abigail, as she waved her hand in a sweeping motion, emphasizing the strange landscape before the two young adults. It was oddly familiar, nothing but corn and occasional houses as far as the eye could see, but all of it seemed just the slightest bit off. The sky was full of runes and lines of other things Tobias didn't at all recognize. Additionally, things seemed more intense, for reasons he couldn't describe. Everything was harsh, focused, angry.

"What is this place?!" Tobias shouted, unnerved, and entirely confused as to the metaverse's nature.

"The Metaverse is a world created by human cognition." Explained Abigail. "Every human on earth has a cognitive world, through which they see the physical. The average product of such cognition is reflected here, as are human emotion and desire." As Abigail explained this, a tall humanoid figure with odd body proportions and a strange gray mask on what would be its face, though Tobias couldn't tell if it had a face, as all of its body was pure black. "That is called a shadow. It represents the soul of a human, whose cognition of being a human was lost. In turn, it now believes that it is a demon, one that seeks to serve a master. We'll cover those types of people in a further lesson. For now, I need you to confront this shadow. Take this sword and gun. Abigail handed the two weapons, a cutlass and a very large pistol, to Tobias, and with nary a word, sent him to fight the shadow.

The shadow, upon seeing Tobias, distorted itself. In seconds, it turned from an obscured humanoid into a strange looking creature resembling a snowman, but small, and with a blue hat and collar.

"That is a Jack Frost, a common low-level shadow." Exposited Abigail. "It should be a suitable foe for a first time."

"All right." Sighed Tobias, as he raised his sword, summoning what little fencing experience he had from high school, and charged at the Jack frost, and struck true, straight at the chest.

"That was fast-ho! I'll be more careful next time-ho!" Laughed the shadow, emerging immediately, with its hand outstretched. Tobias suddenly felt a blast of ice, which knocked him back.

"What the hell?! How's he still alive?" Gasped Tobias.

"The cognitive world works differently from the ficitonal. The cognition of being alive in this world can allow those in it to stave off damage. It takes more than one fatal strike to overwhelm most enemies in this world." Continued Abigail. "Try to strike him again."

Tobias Complied, this time firing off a volley of shots from his pistol, all of which hit home, but Jack frost remained standing. "Well then-ho, I need to step it up-ho!" He released a stronger blast of ice, bringing Tobias further down.

"Damn it!" Gasped Tobias, clearly feeling the pain, and desperate to remedy it. "What do I do?" He asked, giving Abigail a cursory glance, before being overwhelmed with a powerful voice.

"What is this?" It asked, rhetorically. "Am I to believe that you will give up so easily? After all, isn't success the most important thing in the world to you?" It chided. "I doubt that this is where you'd like to die, killed by a glorified snowman. Indeed, the hot sun melts all such things. You wish for that power as well, do you not?"

"I do!" Declared Tobias, in a fit of rage.

"Very well. I am thou, thou art I. Call out my name, and the power is thine."

"Aladdin!" Declared Tobias, as a fire burned around his face, and his clothing transformed. Gone were his standard attire of a black t shirt worn under a short sleeved blue plaid button down and jeans. In their place was a regal looking costume, an armor plate on his chest, a large cream colored scarf around his neck, and jeweled greaves. His pants were also plated with armor, and the same shade of cream as the scarf. On his face, he wore a mask. The mask covered his eyes and hair, but exposed his mouth. It resembled a hawk's beak, and flowered out into an irregular plume, with mock feathers in every color imaginable at the tips. Above him stood his persona, Aladdin. It was dressed as a sejulk knight might have been in medieval times, with armor hidden under a flowing green and white cloak, its angular face exposed, with its glowing green eyes and faintly smiling face. Its head was covered by a white turban which transitioned into a hood and in its hands, it held a massive, oversized scimitar.

"Agi slash!" Declared Tobias. which instantly sent Jack Frost reeling to the ground.

"Excellent, you've knocked down your foe!" Declared Abigail, a smile on her face. "Now finish him off while he's down!"

Tobias complied and eliminated the Jack Frost with a quick swipe of his cutlass.

"Excellent work, you've awakened your Persona. I wasn't entirely sure that you would, but Igor should be very pleased regarding your learning in this area."

"You mean I could have died?" Demanded Tobias, though quickly retreating into his normal state of self doubt."

"I did what must be done, I assure you you will thank me later." Responded Abigail, seeing the fear in Tobias' face.

* * *

"Excellent. With the birth of this Persona, you are ready to visit the Velvet Room in the future. We will contact you the next I deem it necessary. Welcome to your new life. I hope you find it amenable. I have the highest of expectations. Your education begins now." Exclaimed Igor.

 **The Fool: Rank 1.**

* * *

"Tobias?" "Tobias. Wake up." A feminine voice rang out to Tobias' left, and he was jolted awake.

"Mom?" Asked Tobias, opening his large green eyes to find his mother in the driver's seat, their SUV stopped at a gas station.

Saoirse Zain was a shorter woman with bobbed red hair and the same green eyes Tobias had. In most other ways though, her 19 year old son took after his father, with a tall, lanky frame, unkempt brown hair that nearly reached his shoulders, and slightly upturned nose.

"We only have about 20 minutes until we get there. Get ready to move in. After all, we brought all of this stuff from New Jersey, look alive." She laughed.

"That's right" Tobias thought, the daze from his strange dream beginning to fade. They were driving through Indiana, making their way to West Minora, Illinois, where Tobias was soon to start college.

"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself though, I'm proud of the work you put in, 32 on the ACT is something to be lauded." Saoirse reassured, seeing his nervous disposition.

"Thanks, mom." Sighed Tobias, initially appearing annoyed, but hiding genuine admiration and sorrow. Of all the things he'd miss about his home town, his mother was probably the greatest. She was the one he'd mostly remembered from his youth-his father was always working-and she had influenced him a good deal. Much of Tobias' personality, opinions, and wits were developed talking to his mother throughout high school, and she was often the first to hear what had angered Tobias that day. If anything, she was the most important person in his life. Tobias thought back, and realized that their bond was more unique than he'd thought.

 **The Emperor: Rank 1.**

* * *

Weston Hall, the dorm where Tobias was to stay for freshman year, was a remarkable looking place. It was a building divided into three segments, with a prominent court yard in the center, and a prominent porch on the yard's far end. The yard itself had a paved basketball court and a sand pit with a volleyball net, where a few students were playing pickup games. Past the porch, there was the cafeteria, and above the cafeteria, the segment where Tobias would be staying.

"Is this it?" Asked Saoirse, looking at the map for what felt like the fiftieth time.

"Yes mom." Sighed Tobias, as he lugged several duffel bags up the stairs, and into the building.

* * *

"All right, Tobias Zain, room 327." The RA, a tall woman with blonde hair and gray eyes, and whose name tag read "Annette Jansen" said, looking over the documents. "Good to meet you, Tobias."

"Hello." Tobias mutterd, feeling a bit self conscious, and quietly retreating to the confines of his single room.

* * *

The room seemed nice enough. It was small, but manageable, with a normal rectangular shape that featured a bed to to the left along the outer wall, and a desk on the inner, as well as closet space opposite the bed. A heating/AC unit was found higher on the wall, up against a window, and the right side of the room had a prominent shelf.

"All right, looks like we have some work to do." Saoirse laughed, as she and Tobias got to setting up the latter's items in the room.

* * *

The room was in better sorts now. The desk was moved to be adjacent to the closet, and had Tobias' laptop and several notebooks stacked on top of it. The shelves were filled with books broken up by trinkets that Tobias had taken a shine to over the years. Additionally, the wall near the bed was now decorated with a few posters, and a small tv was placed on a collapsible stand opposite Tobias' bed.

* * *

"Well, I suppose that's my cue to leave." Laughed Saorise. "I remember when you started elementary school and-"

"Mom!" Tobias protested.

"All right." She sighed, as she grabbed her things and left. Leaving Tobias alone.

"So, I have two hours until I have to meet my RA again..." Noted Tobias. "I guess I'll just stay here."

Tobias fired up his game console and set about playing an rpg, one set in an apocalypse. "I wonder if this hero can teach me to be gutsier..." Tobias thought, as he played through the game.

 **Guts +1.**

* * *

"Hi! My name's Michael!" Said a boy that Tobias had briefly seen before. He seemed just as nervous as Tobias himself.

"How are you?" Tobias asked, a bit standoffish. He tended to lack confidence, so seeing the boy scared him a bit at first.

"I'm excited, I have so much to do, but what if.."

"Don't worry about it." Insisted Tobias, though he was hardly sure of his own advice. "What are you majoring in?"

"Physics, but I don't feel like I can."

"Economics, and I feel that. I keep thinking I'm going to fuck it up beyond repair." Tobias laughed in agreement. "Anyway, I need to meet the RA.

* * *

"All right, I need to inform you of your orientation group. We aren't starting normal classes until next week, so until then, you'll be with a group of fellow freshmen under the guidance of a professor, in your case professor Robert Chapman." Explained Annette.

Tobias was only half listening, most of his attention on a particularly interesting spot on the ceiling.

"Right..." He muttered, as the meeting ended. He was ready for another break.

* * *

No such luck.

"God Damn it!" He heard, emanating from the lounge, and upon turning the corner found a fellow student playing a fighting game. She'd just lost.

"Um, are you all right?" Asked Tobias.

"No I'm not, I'm trying to break my record on score attack mode, and I just got my ass kicked." She fumed, standing up, which allowed Tobias to get a good look at her.

She was about Tobias' age, which was to be expected, and had messy black hair that reached down to her shoulders, she had small dark brown eyes and at 5'6" was about average height, but very thin. "I don't suppose you play psi force arena?"

"Actually I do." Responded Tobias.

"How about this, we throw down." The woman suggested.

* * *

"Damn it." Shouted Tobias.

"Not so tough now, huh?" She laughed, with her character standing triumphantly above Tobias'.

"Yeah, don't get used to it." Tobias muttered, though he figured she would.

"Anyhow, you seem like an interesting person, I feel like we should hang sometime. My name's Naomi by the way."

"Tobias." Tobias offered in return.

"A pleasure. By the way, there's a party I want to hit up later, say in two hours. You'd better come."

"But-" Began Tobias.

"Nonsense, we're starting college. I say it's high time we find some friends."

* * *

The party was conveniently held right outside of the dorm, around the sand pit and pavement, and it was crawling with new freshmen, socializing and getting significantly drunk as the night went on.

"This is awesome!" Shouted Naomi, as she continually ran around the area, talking to every person who didn't ignore her.

Meanwhile, Tobias was having a rougher go of it. He was seated in a corner, not particularly attached to anything that was going on, but terribly overwhelmed by the amount of energy that was pulsating across the scene. In turn, he was soon met by another strange individual. This one about his height, with shoulder length black hair, and wearing a blue button down shirt.

"Hello..." Tobias said, unclear as to why the individual was standing so near him

"Interesting." The man muttered.

"What is?"

"Your reaction to this party. I find it fascinating that you wish to sit here like an antisocial oddball.

"I'm not much one for parties. My friend was the reason I'm here." Explained Tobias.

"Interesting."

"You don't believe me?" Demanded Tobias, starting to get annoyed.

"That remains to be seen." The man insisted. "I'll be seeing you. My name is John Crawford, by the way."

* * *

"God, you weren't in that at all..." Sighed Naomi, as she and Tobias returned to Weston's third floor.

"Not really my style." Explained Tobias, keeping a brave face.

"I'm sorry then." Naomi said, sincerely. "I won't ask you to come to parties then. No reason to keep taking you to places where you aren't happy."

"Thanks."

"That said, I still want to hang more. Gimme your phone number, we can chat that way."

* * *

"What a day." Sighed Tobias, looking at his phone in bed and assessing the situation. Wait, he didn't remember downloading an app called Metaverse Nav. Curious, he clicked it, and was prompted by a voice telling him to select coordinates. "Damn, between this and that fucking John Crawford guy, today was weird." He sighed, as the app powered up again.

"Candidate found."

* * *

 **A/N: And with that our tale begins. If you want to submit OCs, here are some things to think about:**

The main cast will be made up of 8 characters, three of which are already decided. As a result, I will take 5 core cast members.

The Confidants will also be available, At the end of each chapter, there will be a list of confidants still needing to be filled.

Additionally, I need four OCs to be palace holders, and 6 OCs to fill out a group of 8 rival persona users, two of which are pre-filled.

Some other details to consider:

-The main characters are all college students between the ages of 18 and 22, they'd likely have a year and major, but their personalities and pasts can go anywhere from here.

-The college is called West Minora College, and is located in the fictional town of West Minora, Illinois. The town borders Indiana, and the fictional town of Minora, Indiana. It's a town of about 20,000 and is suffering largely from the loss of its industrial base. The town's wealthy largely work in medicine or computer science, and live closer to the border, or on the town's north side. It's located about one hour south of Chicago. The college is small, with less than 1500 individual students. Its student body tends toward the political left, though the town leans right, causing some tension between the town and the campus. Another feature of this campus is the immense political power that student organizations have on the campus. Beyond greek organizations, student clubs are immensely powerful, and select favored members to live in their "houses" which are sectioned off portions of certain dorms that clubs have dominion over. Some clubs are functional and friendly, while others are corrupt, and use their power to lord influence over campus culture and fellow students. The thing is, even the worst of these club members might not quite be considered "evil, " and that is where the overarching conflict emerges from. The cast are disillusioned with these political games, and horrified at the personalities and behavior of some of the more powerful members, but compared to the more expressly evil foes that they might also encounter, the cast questions if they're truly doing good by stealing their treasures. Hence, the conflict involves the cast exploring the implications of their actions with regards to the things they fight. Does merely fighting these people make them heroes? Or are they simply forcing their code on others?

Additionally, here are the confidant Arcanas as they currently stand:

 **The Fool:** Igor.

 **The Magician:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The High Priestess: ?**

 **The Empress:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The Emperor:** Saoirse Zain.

 **The Hierophant:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The Lovers:** Annette Jansen

 **The Chariot:** Naomi Kita.

 **Strength:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The Hermit: ?**

 **Wheel of Fortune: ?**

 **Justice: ?**

 **The Hanged Man:** TO BE REVEALED

 **Death: ?**

 **Temperance: ?**

 **The Devil: ?**

 **The Tower:** Michael Rowntree.

 **The Star:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The Moon: ?**

 **The Sun: ?**

 **Judgment: ?**

 **The Aeon:** Abigail.

Finally, here's a bio for you all. I know in the past I let people review and PM OCs, but for now, please only PM OCs, it's easier to keep track that way.

Name (first and last):

Metaverse Codename:

Age (should be 18-22):

Gender:

Sexuality (if bisexual or pansexual, note whether they tend more toward boys or girls):

Year (in college):

Major(s)/Minor(s) (just for a bit of background):

Country of Origin (Where they were born/Grew up):

Persona Name (Please Name it after a hero of popular culture):

Persona Arcana:

Design of Persona:

Persona Fighting Style (explain how it fights and what its strengths and weaknesses are):

Melee Weapon:

Ranged Weapon:

Appearance

Eyes:

Hair:

Height:

Build:

Standard Clothes:

Metaverse Outfit (include a mask as well):

Night:

Swim:

Formal:

Personality:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Type of person they would…

-Fall for:

-Befriend:

-Hate:

-Respect:

-Rival:

Hobbies/Skills: (Your characters day to day hobbies and unique skills. Like they enjoy creative writing or are really good at cooking. Things like that or more serious things like they're good leaders and teachers. Or maybe their skill is that they are a disastrous cook. Be creative.)

How they would act…

-Towards Romantic Interests:

-Acquaintances:

-Towards Friends/Close Friends:

-Rivals:

-Towards Enemies:

-Towards Respected Figures:

-Towards Family/People in their history:

-Towards Strangers:

-Under Extreme Pressure:

-When Facing Fears:

-When Mortified/Angry/Depressed/Any Emotion that they react different than what would be expected:

Social Stats:

Knowledge (X/5)

Guts (X/5)

Proficiency (X/5)

Kindness (X/5)

Charm (X/5)

Past:

Musical Themes (optional):

Quotes:

 **All right, Have fun, and as always, Until Next Time!**


	2. Crawford's Palace

**A/N: Wow! I'm getting OCs faster than I expected, and that means that the main cast has more or less been decided, and the second set of Persona users, the rival team needs only one more member before that's done. I still need two more palace holders, and a few more confidants, which will be put on the scoreboard at the end of this chapter. Also, just a miscellaneous housekeeping matter:** **This story takes place about two years before the events of Persona 5, in the year 2014, thus each calendar day will be 2014's calendar. Thank you.**

* * *

"Candidate... Found?" Wondered Tobias, completely confused, not only as to the existence of this app, but to the strange purpose it seemed to convey.

"Need more information." The app insisted.

"Information?" Demanded Tobias, as he poked and prodded the touch screen, trying his best to understand the odd app. "Did mom install this as some kind of prank?" He searched the app store and found nothing. "Some kind of trick?" He wondered, as he fired up his phone's browser, and searched for "Metaverse Nav"

"The fuck?" Tobias muttered, looking over the results. It was all oddities from conspiracy websites; a few people claimed to have the app as well, but it seemed their accounts weren't active, so he wasn't holding his breath regarding further information from them.

"Well, I may as well sleep." He sighed, as he powered down his cell phone and turned out the light.

* * *

 **Monday 4 August 2014.**

"Well, it's nice to meet all of you." Declared a middle aged man sitting in front of the class. "I'm professor Robert Chapman."

Robert Chapman was a tall, portly man in his mid forties, not exactly attractive or charming, but oddly young looking for someone his age. He retained a full head of brown hair, and had green eyes that conveyed a fatherly gleam. He wore a simple suit, and portrayed a friendly figure as he surveyed the class, keeping particular attention on none other than Tobias Zain.

Tobias figured he could play most of this 'orientation' stuff by ear, so his attention wasn't especially focused on the material. He was more interested in the people in his class. Somewhat to his displeasure, this included John Crawford, who sat two rows in front of him, though he was hardly the only-or even the most interesting person in this class. In particular, he found himself interested in the two folks sitting next to him. On his left, a fellow who said he was from China, though he spoke English like an American, so Tobias figured one of his parents taught him English from an early age. Mark Feng, he called himself. He was a bit taller, a couple inches shorter than Tobias, and had brown eyes with choppy, short black hair. To his right was a young woman from Pennsylvania, though she was a bit more of a mystery. She had black hair that was short and choppy, and oddly enough was tied into two beginnings of braids on each side of her head, though her bangs were unkepmpt, and fell over her right eye. She stood at 5'6" and her exposed eye had an almond shape to it and was dark brown. She had introduced herself as Lyn Akume, but had proceeded to retreat into a curled position and seemed awkward with those around her.

"Hey, pay attention!" Shouted another voice, from the back of the classroom. That would be the TA, Alisa Ivanov. She was only a sophomore, but had landed a position as an assistant in an orientation class. She was a slim woman with long black hair and brown eyes, and wore a black shirt with blue butterflies printed on it, along with a red skirt and black boots.

"Yes Alisa." Sighed Tobias.

"Now then, this orientation class will run until the end of the semester, and will be an introductory course designed to acclimate you to college life. As I'm a psychology professor, we'll look at a few basic principles of psychology, primarily its historical context. The other classes you'll take, will of course be more challenging." The professor continued. "Well, that's all I need to tell you for today, I suppose now would be a good time to explain the student center. Alisa, take the class there.

* * *

Tobias was relieved to leave the building, as it was still summer, and the weather proved nice. Leaving the building that they were in further gave him a look at exactly what it was.

The building was called Thompson Hall, and was taller than all of the other academic buildings. It seemed to have been built more recently as well, as it carried a modern sensibility with prominent windows and glass incorporated into its cylindrical design, particularly on the ground floor, which was a small botanical garden with several classrooms throughout it, where botany classes met, though there weren't enough aspiring botanists to support only that. As a result, other such classes met there as well. One such class was the orientation class that Tobias was in. On the other floors, the classrooms tended to be situated around labs, unless they were larger, auditorium-type rooms. According to the orientation material, the building housed the natural science as well as social science department. Outside of it was a fairly substantial prairie ecosystem, brought on by the campus administration for the academic interest.

"All right." Tobias was taken back into reality by Alisa once again. "Here's the student center." She said, as she motioned to another modern looking building with three floors and prominent windows all around. "It's time I show you all around it."

* * *

To be honest, Tobias was extremely impressed by the venue. It held all manner of distractions, with a quick stop for food in the basement, a small arcade and several open meeting spaces one floor up, and even a radio station on the top floor. All of that would have to wait though, as of right now, the class was hungry, and Alisa insisted on telling them the best and worst orders from Kendall's, the campus-run restaurant on the first floor. As far as its appearance, it seemed fairly normal, with a wooden floor and a set of tables and booths dotting its walls and its center, at the right hand wall, it held a small bar.

Tobias sat at a booth with Mark and Lyn, and Alisa joined the three, seemingly out of some interest.

"So, how are you three adjusting?" She asked, genuinely by all appearances.

"Well I'm not the most academically honest." Quipped Mark.

"We're going to keep additional tabs on you." Retorted Alisa.

"Fine." Muttered Lyn, hiding her face immediately.

"And you Tobias?"

"I'm fine, I'm not used to it though." Sighed Tobias. He was indeed fine, but as usual, the thought that he was an idiot without a chance. Guts was hardly a strength of his.

"I asked for a sandwich and this is fucking wrap! I knew you were stupid, but this is beyond even my imagination." He heard a voice shout out from somewhere else in the restaurant, as he scanned the place, focusing his eyes on its source. It was coming from a very short white haired woman who was extremely angry over seemingly nothing at all. She was strange, with long hair in a pony tail and eyes that almost seemed red. Not to mention, her deathly thin frame. She looked like she didn't eat enough to survive, but she was certainly alive, right there, wearing a large black shirt and ripped jeans, and she was barefoot.

"I-I'm sorry." The waitress sobbed. She was a bit taller, but through her mannerisms and tone looked to be a mite younger. She wore the uniform of the restaurant's waitstaff, an orange shirt and red pants with a black apron tied around her waist, and had green eyes and hair dyed purple.

"You should be, I clearly asked for a sandwich, and you're pissing me off." The woman responded.

"We can get you a sandwich, free of charge." The waitress offered.

"That doesn't make me any less hungry!" The other woman shouted.

Alisa clenched her fists and stormed over to the table, and Tobias followed.

"Mathilda! This freshman is trying to give you a meal, give her a bit of slack." Alisa demanded.

"She's fucking incompetent, fuck off." Mathilda said, through clenched teeth.

"It's not like she killed your dog, leave her the fuck alone!" Shouted Tobias, more forcefully than he intended.

"Tobias, take the waitress somewhere safe, I don't need your help." Insisted Alisa, and Tobias complied.

* * *

"Thanks, I don't handle that kind of thing very well." The waitress, whose name tag read 'Brittany Parker' sighed.

"I'm not either." Sighed Tobias. "I don't know what I was thinking. What if she decides-"

"Hey, you did something good, and as far as I'm concerned, that makes you good at it." Brittany said, with a smile.

"I think I'm more confident now..." Tobias thought.

 **Guts +1**

"Anyway, you don't know how thankful I am, it's not gonna be easy working these shifts while I'm in college, thanks for not making it any harder.

 **Strength: Rank 1.**

* * *

"Fuck it, I'm doing nothing productive." Tobias thought to himself, already feeling drained as he ascended up to the third floor of Weston Hall. When he wlaked into the doorway, he was once again greeted by none other than Naomi Kita. Behind her was someone Tobias was less eager to see: John Crawford.

"Hm. Now that's interesting." John said, with a devious smile, as he retreated to his own room, on the second floor.

"That guy bothering you?" Asked Tobias, genuinely concerned.

"Well yeah, he's kind of a dick."

"I ran into him last night, he seems to just act like everyone is some kind of artifact. Always trying to uncover something secret or something."

"I know. It's like he thinks Weston Hall is some kind of Lost City." Sighed Naomi.

As if on cue, the world around the both of them seemed to distort until it resembled something very different.

"What the hell happened to the roof?" Naomi wondered, looking up at a cloudless sky. The college dorm that the two had been standing in was gone in its place was a slight clearing in a lush jungle, and the doorframe was instead an ancient, uneven staircase, a faded brown. It formed out into walls with elaborate tapestry carved into the walls. Replacing the dorms were statues, with cryptic messages written on them in a language neither Tobias nor Naomi could understand, and each of the statues seemed to represent the student that lived in that room.

The thing was, Naomi was a bit more concerned about Tobias' appearance, as he had emerged on the other side with his Metaverse outfit, while she was dressed the same as she had been before, in her normal attire of a black and white, horizontally striped short-sleeved shirt under a short, black denim vest with a silver zipper and a few silver buttons, along with black jeans and gray converse shoes.

"Why are you dressed like that?" She asked him, as it hit Tobias as well.

"Because I think I've been to this place before." He muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"I remember having these clothes in a dream, along with this sword and gun." Tobias explained. "I guess it wasn't a dream after all."

"What else do you remember?"

"I think this place is called the 'Metaverse.'" Tobias continued. "Someone important showed it to me." He explained.

"Well then, why does it look like we're in some kind of archeological dig?"

"Because you are." A third voice spoke out. It belonged to a shadow, though unlike the naked one that Tobias had fought previously, this one was clothed, and resembled a stereotypical explorer of the 19th century, with a tan jacket and khakis, as well as a pith helmet, though the mask on its face remained the same. "In fact, this is fantastic, we've found living examples of this civilization, our expedition leader, Lord Crawford will be most pleased, come this way.

* * *

The shadow led them down the stairs and to a location far within the city, though the two didn't see much of it thanks to the shadow prodding them to a selection of tents set up in what appeared to have been a garden near an opulent house.

"Now then, I recall a few of these statues outside looking like these two." Remarked Shadow-John, who looked much like his real world counterpart, but was dressed in much the same way as the shadows that surrounded him. "So then, why are you here then, some kind of respected figures from this civilization's past?"

"Not sure." Sighed Tobias, not particularly interested in answering the question.

"I don't think you're telling the truth." Shadow-John shot back. "What can you tell me about this place?"

"We know as much as you!" Insisted Naomi.

"Is that right?" Sighed John, in disbelief. "I'll cut to the chase then, where are the most valuable tidbits? The greatest product of your city?" He asked, his friendly disposition slowly fading.

"Eat shit." Tobias muttered.

"Very well, you're more useful dead than alive. Rectify the situation." Said Shadow-John, motioning for his two cohorts, both of whom morphed into their demonic forms. The one on the left became a creature resembling a horse, with seaweed seemingly flowing from its body, the other was yet another Jack Frost.

"What are those things?" Asked Naomi, scared.

"Shadows, human souls that think they're demons." Tobias said, as he drew his sword.

"Aladdin! Agi Slash!" Tobias declared, his persona's blade ready to cleave Jack Frost.

The other shadow blocked the strike, and while it took minor damage, it rebounded instantly, and charged Tobias, who sidestepped it, only to be hit with a bufu spell courtesy of Jack Frost.

"Damn, not again." Tobias Sighed as he fell to the ground and immediately fell victim to an all-out attack from the two shadows.

"Tobias!" Shouted Naomi, terrified by the situation her friend found himself in.

"You don't want to be useless, do you?" A voice in her head called out.

"Wha!?"

"I know how the world has wronged you, always wronged by others, and overpowered by the worst you knew. Well, here is your chance to save someone from the same fate. I am thou, thou art I, say my name and my power is thine."

"Musashi!" Naomi shouted, as her clothing transformed and she took on a costume that resembled a modern take on a samurai. She wore a black haori accented with silver and purple, and a five petaled flower printed on its back in white and purple, but it was leather, and covered by a black breastplate tied on with purple rope. Instead of Hakama, she wore simple black pants with a white obi tied to her waist, which held two scabbards holding a katana and wakizashi on the left, and a holster containing a submachine gun on the right. Her arms and legs were further covered with leather armor. On her face, she wore a samurai mask that covered only the lower half of her face. It was black and white, and featured a fanged mouth with the tongue sticking out. Standing behind her was her Persona, Musashi, which also resembled a samurai with an open blue kimono and gray hakama, along with swords attached to its own obi. It had a scarred face and scraggly facial hair, and looked distinctly more human than Aladdin.

"Rising Slash!" Naomi Declared, and downed the horse-like shadow.

"Naomi! Good work!" Tobias Exclaimed as he got back up, ready for his own strike. "Agi Slash!" The Jack Frost went down.

"I'll finish this. Agi!" Shouted Naomi, whose Persona drew its swords once more and released a burst of flame from the blade, which connected with deafening force, and the shadow dissipated.

"All right, we need to get out of here, sighed Tobias, his fear taking over as usual. "Wait, where is out?"

"I might be able to be of assistance." Another voice rang out, from behind them. It didn't sound like a shadow, it sounded small, high pitched, offputting even. That said, neither Tobias nor Naomi were expecting its owner to be a bipedal rabbit.

"Who are you?" Asked Naomi, unnerved but hardly aggressive.

"I go by Hazel, and from what I saw, you two are persona users." The rabbit said.

"Do rabbits normally talk in this world?" Tobias wondered aloud.

"Hard to say, I'm the only one around here. Kinda lonely." Hazel sighed.

"All right Hazel, how do we get out?" Asked Naomi.

"That's just it, you're in a palace right now, which makes it much easier."

"A palace?" Naomi and Tobias asked in unison.

"That's right, the metaverse bends to the will of distorted desires. If a person feels sufficiently strongly about a location, it changes shape, as it has here.

"I think I know whose it was." Noted Tobias.

"That shadow-self that was here a second ago?" Asked Hazel.

"I guess so..."

"That means that his cognition affects a building in the physical world. As far as our aim, we only need to find a safe room."

"Safe room?"

"I'll explain later, let's go."

* * *

Hazel led the duo down to a basement level, which resembled an underground bazaar. Most of the buildings were caved in, but one in particular that was still standing caught the rabbit's eye.

"See this door? If you see a door that looks out of place, that's probably a safe room, where a palace holder's cognition is weaker. As a result, we can stay there and avoid the heat from the shadows, and even port out if need be."

"All right, I still need to process this shit." Sighed Tobias, as he followed the rabbit into the room.

"Hey, isn't this the laundry room?" Asked Naomi, as she looked about the surroundings and washing machines flickered in and out of view.

Tobias felt envious, Naomi seemed to be processing this much more quickly than he was. Damn his nerves. "Right then, let's get out of here." Tobias offered, as he opened the metaverse nav and clicked the prompt marked "exit."

* * *

"I don't remember it being this dark when we started." Muttered Naomi, looking out the window. "Hey, we were in there for six hours, it's 9 o'clock."

"Time in the Metaverse is a bit different." Explained Hazel. "A few hours are certain to pass if you stay in it."

"Wait, why are you here?" Asked Tobias.

"Proximity. You'll drag people who are close to you in and out from time to time." Hazel said, expositing more on the concepts.

"Hey, how was your first day?" A slightly distant voice asked the two.

"Shit, Annette's coming." Hissed Naomi. "Hazel, hide in my backpack." The rabbit begrudgingly complied.

"I-it was fine." Stammered Tobias, feeling more and more of the reality setting in, and feeling a bit tired to boot. "Not too busy, but I'm sure it will be!"

"Okay, if you need help with anything, I'm right here, and my door is open." Annette said, as she retreated to her room.

"All right, I think I'm going to need some time to process all of that." Tobias said, his nervous nature finally overtaking the rush.

"I'll see you after that then. I feel like there's way more to this palace stuff, and I intend to see it all!" Naomi laughed.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Coughed Hazel.

"Oh, right. We can't have pets on campus, so we need to figure out a place for you to stay, if you don't want to stay in the metaverse.

"Nah, I don't anyway, we rabbits can sleep in our burrows after all." Hazel said, as she ran out of Naomi's backpack and through the door, down the stairs and out into the night.

"Should we be concerned about owls?" Tobias wondered aloud.

"I'm sure Hazel can handle it." Naomi said. "I'm as tired as you are. See you tomorrow."

* * *

 **A/N: I promise that the whole one chapter/one day thing won't be the normal time scale for the fic, these chapters are just establishing everything. The pacing will pick up very soon. Other than that, the same things apply, so just enjoy the Arcana stuff and send in an OC if you're feeling courageous.**

Arcanas:

 **Wild Card:** Tobias Zain

 **The Fool:** Igor.

 **The Magician:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The High Priestess:** Lyn Akume

 **The Empress:** Hazel.

 **The Emperor:** Saoirse Zain.

 **The Hierophant:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The Lovers:** Annette Jansen

 **The Chariot:** Naomi Kita.

 **Strength:** Brittany Parker

 **The Hermit:** TO BE REVEALED

 **Wheel of Fortune: ?**

 **Justice:** Alisa Ivanov

 **The Hanged Man:** TO BE REVEALED

 **Death: ?**

 **Temperance: ?**

 **The Devil:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The Tower:** Michael Rowntree.

 **The Star:** Robert Chapman.

 **The Moon:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The Sun: ?**

 **Judgment:** Mark Feng.

 **The Aeon:** Abigail.

Finally, here's a bio for you all. I know in the past I let people review and PM OCs, but for now, please only PM OCs, it's easier to keep track that way.

Name (first and last):

Metaverse Codename:

Age (should be 18-22):

Gender:

Sexuality (if bisexual or pansexual, note whether they tend more toward boys or girls):

Year (in college):

Major(s)/Minor(s) (just for a bit of background):

Country of Origin (Where they were born/Grew up):

Persona Name (Please Name it after a hero of popular culture):

Persona Arcana:

Design of Persona:

Persona Fighting Style (explain how it fights and what its strengths and weaknesses are):

Melee Weapon:

Ranged Weapon:

Appearance

Eyes:

Hair:

Height:

Build:

Standard Clothes:

Metaverse Outfit (include a mask as well):

Night:

Swim:

Formal:

Personality:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Type of person they would…

-Fall for:

-Befriend:

-Hate:

-Respect:

-Rival:

Hobbies/Skills: (Your characters day to day hobbies and unique skills. Like they enjoy creative writing or are really good at cooking. Things like that or more serious things like they're good leaders and teachers. Or maybe their skill is that they are a disastrous cook. Be creative.)

How they would act…

-Towards Romantic Interests:

-Acquaintances:

-Towards Friends/Close Friends:

-Rivals:

-Towards Enemies:

-Towards Respected Figures:

-Towards Family/People in their history:

-Towards Strangers:

-Under Extreme Pressure:

-When Facing Fears:

-When Mortified/Angry/Depressed/Any Emotion that they react different than what would be expected:

Social Stats:

Knowledge (X/5)

Guts (X/5)

Proficiency (X/5)

Kindness (X/5)

Charm (X/5)

Past:

Musical Themes (optional):

Quotes:

 **All right, Have fun, and as always, Until Next Time!**


	3. Freshman Week

**A/N: The third chapter is here, though I feel guilty about the time it's taking me to update. I hope it's worth the wait. Also, there is one palace holder needed, and one member of the rival team still needed as well. As far as the matter of the personas themselves, the shadows won't necessarily follow their levels from previous games. For example, Mothman and Scathatch will appear in John's palace. Finally, I'm going to try something else with this. I'm going to put end notes at the chapter that would clarify and expand on these concepts. Thank you, and as for the remaining arcanas, the list will once again be posted at the end of the chapter.**

* * *

"Damn." Sighed Tobias, barely able to keep his eyes open. "The metaverse, personas. It's all... real." The young man was unsure of what to do. What exactly did any of this mean, and what was this palace that his classmate owned? Tobias knew little of this, and while he was curious to know more, he was also very much unsettled regarding this strange new cognitive world that he was sure must exist. If anything, he needed to sleep. He and Naomi could process this tomorrow, and maybe they could find that rabbit too.

* * *

Tobias awoke sitting on a chair opposite Igor once more, inside the velvet room.

"While your body sleeps, your mind can join us here." Abigail explained, as she walked into Tobias' vision.

"Yes, and your journey has come to an important point." Continued Igor. "As you find yourself searching the palace, the reason will become more clear. Moreover, it is imperative that you take this course of action to fulfill our expectations.

"Once we deem you ready, we will contact you once more, and give you new resources to fulfill our expectations." Said Abigail, striking a calm pose.

"Now, it is time to return to your world." Igor declared, as Tobias awoke.

 **Tuesday, August 5th, 2014. 8:00 AM.**

"Does this mean the velvet room is real too?" Tobias wondered aloud, as he checked his phone for messages, and sure enough found Naomi's number at the top of his list.

"Hey, I need to talk to you about things, can you meet me at lunch?" The message read. Tobias was just as eager himself, he felt unable to process these developments on his own, and talking to the only other human he knew that could understand was definitely the thing he needed most. "I'll be there." Tobias answered back.

* * *

"Now it's important to remember the campus layout." Alisa explained. "Thankfully, West Minora is a relatively small campus, and only expands within the space of several decades. There's no construction going on around campus at present, but the Thompson building is the most recent. When was it built? Tobias?"

"Uh... 2008!" Tobias said, panicked. He still felt the introductory information to be a pedestrian, and was eager to take more proper classes.

"Yes, that's right. Before Thompson, our previous natural science building was built in the 1950s, and sat on roughly the same spot. Our primary purpose in replacing it was the need for more space devoted to botany. Of course, this proved a bit too much, hence why we're meeting here, inside the botanical garden. In any event, Professor Chapman will want some more information on your aptitude, so I'll pass back a few essay prompts and you should work on those. After you're done, you can go to lunch."

* * *

 **12:00 PM.**

"Tobias!" Naomi shouted from her position in the cafeteria, which was a respectable venue which had chairs in a circle around the kitchen, which was a central room that had stands protruding from it, each of which served a certain type of food that day. Tobias looked over the selection, and on a whim chose chicken and dumplings, before joining his friend at her table.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked, personable as he could manage.

"More on this metaverse business." Naomi said. "I'm just confused about all of it."

"Agreed." Responded Tobias.

"What exactly does it mean that John has a 'Palace?' Do we need to be worried, and what about Hazel? Why do we have a talking rabbit following us? I just feel... Off about this. I'm not sure we should continue."

"I feel like this is important." Said Tobias. "I'm not sure why, but I think we have to."

"But what are we supposed to do? All we have is the fact that that John tried to kill us." Answered Naomi.

"Clearly he's not innocent considering that he tried to kill us." Responded Tobias.

"All right, I suppose we ought to at least look into the concept of palaces." Agreed Naomi. "Care to join me later?"

"Gladly." Tobias said.

"Great, drop me a line when you want to do it, and I'll be ready." Naomi Agreed.

* * *

Tobias knocked on the door reading 'Naomi,' finally prepared to take the plunge. He'd talked himself into it, and had pulled up the metaverse nav, ready to return to the strange 'palace' owned by the man called John Crawford.

"All right, I'm ready." Naomi said, carrying several cans of soda, bottled water, and candy bars.

"Uh, what's with the snacks?" Asked Tobias.

"If it's a cognitive world, can't we get more out of this stuff? After all, water makes you recover from fatigue, soda gives you energy, but if it's peoples opinions that make the metaverse run, won't these be stronger there?" [1]

"I guess so." Muttered Tobias, still feeling less than confident in his own ability. Why didn't he think of that? He really wasn't cut out for this. He thought, as of course the metaverse was forming around the two.

"You two again?" Said a feminine voice low to the ground.

"Hazel?" Asked Naomi, peering down at the rabbit.

"Yes, and what are you doing here? This is dangerous, get out.

"We have skin in this game. We know this palace's owner, and we're worried about why that is." Explained Naomi.

"I don't care, you need to leave before someone gets hurt. I operate my way, and you two will jeopardize it. Get your asses out." The rabbit continued on the tirade, not noticing the presence of Shadows behind them.

"Guys!" Shouted Tobias, as the shadows morphed, turning into a jack frost, as well as a woman with wings and little clothing, only strips of black fabric. In the center, there was something else entirely, an oddly fuzzy creature, with large eyes and wings, a mothman, it might be said.

"Fuck. It looks like I'm babysitting you two." Sighed Hazel, as she pulled out two hook swords from... Somewhere. "Aslan!" She commanded. As a humanoid lion creature sprang into existence. As a persona, this creature seemed reserved and harshly analytical. It also wore armor and had a helmet over its hair that hid most of its mane. "Psio!" She shouted, which caused Aslan to raise one of its hands, and seemingly crush one of the shadows with its mind. The mothman took some minor damage, but quickly reconstituted itself, and shot out a bolt of lightning that knocked Aslan down. The trio proceeded to beat Hazel down with an all-out attack. Immediately after, Jack Frost hit the rabbit with an ice spell and the angel with light.

"No..." Hazel gasped, as she fell to the ground, unmoving. [2]

"We have to take them on." Naomi said.

"Right." Exclaimed Tobias, nervous but prepared, as they entered the fight.

"Take this!" Naomi shouted, aiming her gun at the moth creature, and knocked it down with nary a thought. "Persona!" She shouted, summoning Musashi. "Lucky Punch!" She declared, as Musashi leaped forward to strike the angel with the butt of its swords. It connected, and downed the Angel.

"Persona! Agi Slash!" Said Tobias, as Aladdin did just that, and downed Jack frost. "All right, now lets-"

"No! I can join you!" Shouted the Jack Frost.

"Wha-" Began Tobias, as Jack Frost transformed into a mask much like the one Tobias was wearing, and assimilated into his body.

"What the fuck!?" Shouted Hazel, getting up from the ground as the scene played out, as Mothman and Angel ran away.

"I think I have two personas..." Muttered Tobias.

"Yes indeed." Hazel said. "But that shouldn't be possible. A persona is a manifestation of your own personality! You only get one. On the other hand, I think we can use this power."

"You're letting us work with you?" Asked Naomi, confused at the sudden change of heart.

"Well clearly I can't fight this battle myself, so we'll stick together, at least as long as this palace is up."

"Great. We're a team now." Said Tobias, feeling a bit safer.

"I suppose now that I know you two won't stop coming to the Metaverse, I may as well teach you about it." Explained Hazel. "The fact that your friend has a palace makes him someone with extremely distorted desires."

"Distorted desires?" Asked Naomi.

"It means that his emotions have overcome his reason, and as a result, he seeks ill-begotten gains. It's a little bit unusual in this case, because it seems that this guy doesn't have full control over the palace. Instead, it's like he's trying to take control of it, even though he's the owner. That doesn't really make sense, but it makes our job easier. What it means is that he isn't aware of where his treasure is."

"Sorry if I sound like an idiot, but treasure?" Asked Tobias.

"No, I need to explain that too. Each palace has a treasure, and stealing the treasure causes their desires to return to normal."

"Wait, does that mean we're making them act how we want?" Asked Naomi, a bit unnerved at the prospect.

"Not exactly, it just means they'll abandon whatever plans they have that cause them to form the palace, as for what that means, well that's up to you."

"I'm not sure whether we should..." Sighed Tobias.

"What if he wants to kill someone though?" Noted Naomi. We can't be sure it's not something serious.

"How about this, we figure out what he's up to, and decide what to do based on that." Offered Hazel. "That said, I say we draft a code, we can't just go around changing cognitions without thinking about the implications. Anyway, we need to get a route to the treasure if we decide to change his cognition, and if we find the way to the treasure, that makes it easier for later."

"All right, where do you think the treasure is?" Asked Tobias.

"Well, based on the fact that the holder himself doesn't know what this palace properly is, I would say that it's in some location apart from the camp, and apart from that top level that we're in now, but other than that, I'm not sure. The only thing to do is to search the palace, see if we can find a promising path that might take us there. There's no such thing as an impenetrable treasure room."

"Cool. Let's see it." Asserted Naomi.

"Not just yet, we need to establish the general layout of the palace and determine a few safe rooms to work through the palace. Moreover, I feel like we need to establish the fundamental ways that this palace works, which will help us figure out the way to make it to the treasure.

* * *

"Well, this is troubling." Hazel muttered, looking at the mass of debris that blocked nearly half the second floor.

"What does this mean?" Asked Tobias.

"Well, based on the structure of the debris, it seems that this is a barrier. Either John thinks that this area is impenetrable, or more likely because of the nature of this palace, he doesn't know enough about his own palace to advance beyond a certain point himself.

"So, what to do?" Asked Naomi, feeling the barrier with her hand.

"As far as I know, we'll have to make sure that the palace's holder aware of these things. I think you two will know better than I do how to handle it. For now, all we can do is leave again and see about fixing the situation later.

"All right, but first, can I try something?" Asked Tobias, a gleam in his eyes.

"What?" Asked Hazel.

"I want to see what other personas I can acquire. This is huge." He said, starting to enjoy the experience.

"All right fine, but only one for now, we need to figure this out." Said Hazel.

* * *

"Now, what makes you think you should have my power?" Another moth creature asked Tobias, as he leveled his pistol at the invader.

"Because I kicked your ass." He sighed, not particularly invested in the conversation.

"Now what's that supposed to mean? If you're so strong, why the hell would you need me? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry..." Muttered Tobias.

"Good, apology accepted, and hey, I remember something... I'm not a demon, I was a human from your world. I'm a Mothman!" He said, as he transformed into a mask that Tobias grabbed.

"All right, get your ass out of here." Said Hazel, we can figure out what we need to do later.

* * *

"Well, fancy running into you two around here." An annoying voice rang out.

"John?" Tobias and Naomi rang out all at once.

"Well yeah, does anyone else sound like me?" He laughed.

"Not really." Sighed Naomi.

"Anyway, I'll be seeing both of you, more parties and all that." He said.

"All right, so we need to tail him for a while." Said Hazel.

"Okay, but what do we even need to do to get further in the palace?" Asked Naomi.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure..." Sighed Hazel.

"Well, I suppose we can figure it out later. For now, I need a break. Hey Tobias, you want to go to the arcade? It looks like it kicks ass." Naomi continued

"Sure, that sounds like fun." Tobias said, starting to find Naomi's friendliness more and more comforting in the strange world the two of them seemed to now be trapped in.

* * *

"What do you want to play?" Asked Naomi, looking over the games; most were from the 90s, when arcades were more popular in America, though a few more recent titles popped up as well.

"I'll take that racing game over there." Tobias said, looking over at a cabinet that held a seat, wheel, and pedals, two total.

"Here goes, prepare to have your ass kicked!" Shouted Naomi with glee, as she took one of the seats, and Tobias the other.

"I'm not doing too well..." Sighed Tobias.

"Hah! Naomi Kita wins the day once again!" His friend laughed.

"I guess I'm the pity friend." Tobias sighed.

"Hm?" Asked Naomi.

"It's nothing, just more self doubt." Muttered Tobias.

"Self doubt?" She responded with a further question.

"Yeah, I get the constant impression everyone hates me, I try to joke about it, that makes it a bit better I suppose."

"Well for the record, I don't hate you, and I get that. I've been the one with no friends way too often. I grew up in the middle of nowhere, and well... I wasn't always the most popular, hell I never was."

"I feel like my bond with Naomi is getting stronger..." Tobias thought, as the two departed from the student center and worked their way back to Weston Hall.

 **The Chariot: Rank 1.**

* * *

 **Wednesday, August 6th 2014. 10:00 AM.**

"Well then, I think it's high time we cover the fundamentals of signing up for classes here at West Minora College." Professor Chapman said, with a smile, as he projected his computer on the whiteboard, and began to exposit on the timeline for signing up for classes. "All right, now all of you ought to sign up for classes, get your laptops out.

"All right, Economics level one... Political science... Maybe mapmaking?" Tobias thought, as he selected the three class options [3].

"Now then, get going, I'm sure there's plenty of fun for college freshmen to be having the week before they start."

* * *

 **12:00 PM.**

"All right now, follow him for a bit." Commanded Hazel, as Tobias found himself joined by the rabbit the second he walked into the botanical garden.

"What, do you live here now?" Asked Tobias, confused.

"Yep, beats working with the other rabbits any day. I just eat some veggies that the students leave in here. It's great.

Tobias scrunched his face "Those are for science."

"Well, fuck it. I do need to eat, and it's not like I eat it all, I have a moral code you know. Anyway, let's tail John and see what happens."

* * *

"Okay, why are we just staring at John like a bunch of idiots and hoping he'll let something slip?" Asked Naomi.

"I feel like a stalker." Agreed Tobias, with a heavy sigh.

"Well how else are we supposed to figure out what this guy's deal is?" Complained Hazel.

"Well I'm sure we can think of someth-Achoo!" Tobias began, before sneezing harshly.

"Are you all right?" Asked Naomi.

"I'm-" Tobias sneezed again.

"Allergies. Isn't there a nurse we can see or something?" Asked Hazel, annoyed that their mission would seem to be thwarted.

"Yeah, the health center is in Smith." Naomi said. "And I'll keep stalking the weirdo, I think he likes me anyway." She finished with a laugh.

"We really need to figure out this allergy situation." Sighed Hazel, as she hid in Tobias' bag as the latter made his way out to Smith.

Smith was quite close to Weston, only a short walk down the concrete path. It was larger than the other dorms, a monolithic white cube that went up ten floors, with a prominent difference in the look of the windows at the very top. On the ground floor, there was a sign in the door stating that this was where the health center was located. Tobias simply entered without a word, and sauntered into the waiting room.

"The nurse should be here to see you in just a second." The receptionist said, taking down Tobias' name and phone number without looking up.

"Thank you." Said Tobias, picking up a kleenex and doing his best not to make any noise.

"Hello there." A woman Tobias assumed was the nurse said as she walked up. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties, and wore a labcoat over a blue and white striped shirt and capris. She had dark blonde hair in a bob that reminded Tobias of the actresses in movies from the 1940s. It made him think of his mom, she loved those old movies.

"Hey, you're going to have to tell me what brings you here." The nurse laughed.

"Oh, right. Allergies." Tobias Sighed.

"Ah, come into my office."

* * *

"All right, I suppose you'll want some form of temporary relief, so I'll just give you some over the counter stuff [4], do you have a prescription grade medicine?"

"No, I never really got it diagnosed." Answered Tobias.

"All right, I can set up some tests if you want, and refer you to a clinic for more advanced testing if it turns out your allergies are more serious.

"I suppose it can't hurt." Sighed Tobias.

"All right, we can do the basic elements right here." She said, as she grabbed a few items from a prominent cabinet.

* * *

"Well, your reactions seem to be in the moderate range, so I can get the clinic on the line some time tomorrow, if you need help in the mean time, ask for me. My name is Tara Nash." The nurse said, after she finished testing Tobias.

"Thanks, I'm Tobias Zain." Tobias offered in return.

"Pleasure to meet you." Tara responded in kind.

* * *

 **4:00 PM**

Tobias was feeling a bit drowsy from the side effects of the allergy medicine, and so he quickly returned to his room and lay in bed, fully prepared to sleep however many hours it took to feel more energetic again. Before that though, he received yet another text, this one from none other than Naomi Kita.

"Hey, so I think I have a lead on John." It read.

* * *

[1]: These are the first healing items, nothing really notable here.

[2]: Hazel would be back up for when you join the fight, her fainting is mostly for dramatic effect.

[3]: This would be a way to determine which times of day you're able to move freely. Depending on which classes the player might take, different routes open up and different potential paths become available.

[4]: Tara is the first shop to emerge, and mostly sells medicine. She fills a similar role as Tae Takemi in that regard.

* * *

All right, now the chart.

 **Wild Card:** Tobias Zain.

 **The Fool:** Igor.

 **The Magician:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The High Priestess:** Lyn Akume.

 **The Empress:** Hazel.

 **The Emperor:** Saoirse Zain.

 **The Hierophant:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The Lovers:** Annette Jansen.

 **The Chariot:** Naomi Kita.

 **Strength:** Brittany Parker.

 **The Hermit:** TO BE REVEALED

 **Wheel of Fortune: ?**

 **Justice:** Alisa Ivanov

 **The Hanged Man:** Tara Nash.

 **Death: ?**

 **Temperance: ?**

 **The Devil:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The Tower:** Michael Rowntree.

 **The Star:** Robert Chapman.

 **The Moon:** TO BE REVEALED

 **The Sun: ?**

 **Judgment:** Mark Feng.

 **The Aeon:** Abigail.

Finally, here's a bio for you all. I know in the past I let people review and PM OCs, but for now, please only PM OCs, it's easier to keep track that way.

Name (first and last):

Metaverse Codename:

Age (should be 18-22):

Gender:

Sexuality (if bisexual or pansexual, note whether they tend more toward boys or girls):

Year (in college):

Major(s)/Minor(s) (just for a bit of background):

Country of Origin (Where they were born/Grew up):

Persona Name (Please Name it after a hero of popular culture):

Persona Arcana:

Design of Persona:

Persona Fighting Style (explain how it fights and what its strengths and weaknesses are):

Melee Weapon:

Ranged Weapon:

Appearance

Eyes:

Hair:

Height:

Build:

Standard Clothes:

Metaverse Outfit (include a mask as well):

Night:

Swim:

Formal:

Personality:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Type of person they would…

-Fall for:

-Befriend:

-Hate:

-Respect:

-Rival:

Hobbies/Skills: (Your characters day to day hobbies and unique skills. Like they enjoy creative writing or are really good at cooking. Things like that or more serious things like they're good leaders and teachers. Or maybe their skill is that they are a disastrous cook. Be creative.)

How they would act…

-Towards Romantic Interests:

-Acquaintances:

-Towards Friends/Close Friends:

-Rivals:

-Towards Enemies:

-Towards Respected Figures:

-Towards Family/People in their history:

-Towards Strangers:

-Under Extreme Pressure:

-When Facing Fears:

-When Mortified/Angry/Depressed/Any Emotion that they react different than what would be expected:

Social Stats:

Knowledge (X/5)

Guts (X/5)

Proficiency (X/5)

Kindness (X/5)

Charm (X/5)

Past:

Musical Themes (optional):

Quotes:

 **All right, Have fun, and as always, Until Next Time!**


End file.
